Friday, March 30, 2007

Last Sunday I started to notice Jack's energy level take a severe nose dive. Instead of running, jumping and playing he just laid on the floor for much of the day. When I managed to get him on his feet, he would slink his way over to take a drink and then go back to sleep. By Sunday evening when he still hadn't improved I was concerned and examined him more closely. I was alarmed to find his lymph nodes were swollen to the size of oranges. This is a symptom of his little immune system fighting something...not good, not good at all!

The next morning Tanyia took him to our vet and he was diagnosed him with Juvenile Cellulitis or as it commonly know, "Puppy Strangles". I had never heard of it and googled it for a definition...

DEFINITION:It's a serious condition which affects the face, ears, and sub-mandibular lymph nodes (those located near the corner of the jaw). The face, muzzle, lips, and eyelids become swollen. Pustules (large pimples) develop, break open, and crusts and small ulcers form. If left untreated, some puppies can die from this condition. Scarring and permanent hair loss can also occur.

Our vet assured us that we caught it VERY early, so early in fact, that not a single pustule had formed yet. This is great news..no scarring! We started him on steroids and antibiotics and by Tuesday his energy was back and by Wednesday he was 100% again. He will have to be on the meds for another 3 weeks, and will be reassessed once they have been completed, but he is expected to recover completely.

3 comments:

As I began to read the post, I became alarmed - was really scared for the little guy! Good thing is seems to have been caught early... my pooch has a bad knee requiring surgery, and it is tough watching him limp... hope your new little guy is doing okay!Mungo

On Sunday, I noticed a bump to my new puppy, Chloe's right eye. Being a nurse, I assessed it further and being that she had no other signs of infection or anything, passed it off as probably a sty. Monday morning before leaving for work, I again checked it out, it looked exactly the same. I was at work for about 18 hours, when I arrived home I immediatley got Chloe and examined her. To my horrible surprise I found my baby lying on the sofa just looking at me, both eyes swollen, red with pus like discharge. I started feeling her neck and palpated 2 quite large lymph nodes on her neck and some smaller ones around her face. I decided that I would get up in the morning and take her to our vet. When our vet entered the exam room he immediately said "Juvenile Cellulitis". She is currently on day 3 of her medication regimen of prednisone, antibiotics and eye drops. We are still waiting on improvement - seams to be getting a little worse around the mouth, im sure the constant scratching is not helping. We are scheduled to follow up on Monday with our vet and see where we go from here. Keep Chloe in your thoughts and prayers! You are right though, there is NOTHING sadder than a sick puppy!